Spending on NCD gives best return on investment: WHO

Invest in Non-communicable diseases (NCD), save money, says WHO

Ahead of the World Health Assembly in Geneva next week, the World Health Organisation has said that Investments in noncommunicable disease control generates major financial and health gains.

A new WHO report shows that investment in control of NCDs will generate US$350 billion through averted health costs and increased productivity and save 8.2 million lives by 2030 in world’s poorest countries.

The additional cost incurred for such investments is merely US$ 1.27 per person per year in low- and lower-middle-income countries (LLMICs). This would result in 8.2 million lives being saved during the same period.

NCDs kill 41 million people each year, comprising 72% of all deaths globally. The number of deaths from NCDs is increasing across the world, including in LLMICs. NCDs are chronic conditions requiring lengthy and expensive treatment especially in low-resource settings which drains household resources and forces families into poverty and hampers development.

The states with the largest dominance of non-communicable diseases are Kerala, Goa, and Tamil Nadu

According to the first state level disease burden study 2017, the contribution of non-communicable diseases in India have risen from 30% of the total disease burden in 1990 to 55% to 2016. The states with the largest dominance of non-communicable diseases are Kerala, Goa, and Tamil Nadu.

The contribution of most of the major non-communicable disease groups to the total disease burden has increased all over India since 1990. These include cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, chronic respiratory diseases, mental health and neurological disorders, cancers, musculoskeletal disorders, and chronic kidney disease.

In 2016, three of the five leading individual causes of disease burden in India were non-communicable, with ischaemic heart disease and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease as the top two causes and stroke as the fifth leading cause. Interestingly one of the “Best Buy” interventions against NCDs suggested in the WHO report is administration of the HPV vaccine to girls – on which divergent voices continue to be raised in India despite an in principle clearance for it from the highest technical body on vaccines.

The WHO report, titled “Saving lives, Spending less: a strategic response to NCDs” reveals, for the first time, the financing needs and returns on investment of WHO’s cost-effective and feasible “best buy” policies to protect people from noncommunicable diseases (NCDs), the world’s leading causes of ill health and death.

It shows that for every US$1 invested in scaling up actions to address NCDs (LLMICs), there will be a return to society of at least US$7 in increased employment, productivity and longer life.

“The overarching message of this powerful new WHO report is optimistic,” says WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus. “Tackling NCDs is an opportunity to improve health and economies.”

The Sustainable Development Goal NCD target (SGD 3.4) is to reduce deaths from NCDs by a third by 2030 and promote mental health.

The most cost-effective “best buy” interventions suggested are increasing taxes on tobacco and alcohol, reducing salt intake, administering drug therapy and counselling for people who have had a heart attack or stroke, vaccinating girls aged 9─13 years against human papillomavirus and screening women aged 30─49 years for cervical cancer.